She wasn’t the most visible poet in Santa Cruz by any means, but Adrienne Rich was certainly its greatest. The winner of a National Book Award, MacArthur “genius” grant, two Guggenheims and numerous other distinctions died in her Santa Cruz home on Tuesday, March 27 from complications related to rheumatoid arthritis.
News
Council Approves Pogonip Multi-Use Trail
Mountain bikers will soon be getting a new place to ride in a city park. Santa Cruz City Council approved construction of the Pogonip East Multi-Use Trail on Tiuesday night. The controversial trail, which will be open to bikers, equestrian and pedestrians, will offer a passage to the park’s U-Conn trail and up to UC–Santa Cruz.
515: A Great Rainy Day Getaway
Funky elegance, laid-back glamor and serious libations are among the many charms of downtown’s 515 Kitchen & Cocktails, located at 515 Cedar Street, as my colleagues and I found out last Friday. Happily ensconced on some of the soft cushions in the downstairs lounge, we enjoyed the wet afternoon from afar.
In California, Fracking Foes Take Aim
Rarely has a single image from a documentary film sparked greater debate overnight: a Colorado homeowner turns on his faucet, and as soon as he puts a cigarette lighter to the tap water, it catches fire—the result of highly flammable methane seeping into the water supply from an oil drilling operation nearby. The drilling involves hydraulic fracturing, a controversial oil and gas extraction process the potential medical and environmental perils of which are the subject of the Oscar-nominated film Gasland.
Letters to the Editor, Mar. 28-April 3
One thoughtful reader imagines an America where our wages go up—not just our gas prices and rent. Other ‘Weekly’ readers find new angles on a much-discussed cult film and on a heavily debated Soquel disc golf course.
The Case for Shiftlessness
In a just world, American workers’ high productivity would lead to leisure and prosperity, not overwork for some and unemployment for many. Ted Rall says we should stop pretending and accept the new (un)employment reality—and consider a livable base income for all, no matter what their livelihood.
Methyl Iodide Pulled From U.S. Market
The Tokyo-based company that manufactures methyl iodide announced plans yesterday to pull the controversial fumigant from the U.S. market. Arysta, which markets the chemical in the U.S. under the name Midas, said in a statement the decision about methyl iodide came after “an internal review of the fumigant and [was] based on its economic viability in the U.S. marketplace.”
The Skinny on Vitamin D
Call me an addict, but the first sunny morning following a slew of rainy days always propels me outside to soak it up with a maximum skin-to-clothing ratio. Sunshine on skin: an ancient, visceral pleasure, and one of life’s simplest. Too much of it causes wrinkles, sun spots, and skin cancer. But just a little bit of conscientious, unblocked sunbathing is actually as good for our body chemistry as it feels: it converts vitamin D, a unique and crucial nutrient, into one of the three forms that can be absorbed by the human body. (The other two forms come from the diet.)
Surprisingly, a deficiency of the sunny vitamin is more common in Santa Cruz, and more serious, than you’d expect.
Santa Cruz’s Crush on Tech
Welcome to Silicon Beach. Or at least that’s what we should be calling Santa Cruz, according to a recent survey by the online polling and policy outfit Civinomics. The six-question poll, taken at the Chamber of Commerce Business Fair at Cocoanut Grove on March 14 by a Civinomics team (which included the author, a Civinomics co-founder), found that the industry in which Santa Cruz businesspeople have the most confidence is technology. In fact, 40 percent of those surveyed stated that if they could invest $10,000 in any local industry, technology would be their first choice, followed closely by tourism at 35 percent. Retail and agriculture finished substantially behind, with 18 percent and 16 percent respectively (some respondents picked two industries). Forever 21 might want to take notice of these results.
Students’ Plan for Disc Golf Course Worries Soquel Neighbors
Fabiano Hale, a student at Soquel High School, has had a dream ever since founding his school’s disc golf club as a freshman four years ago. Hale and Spanish teacher Luke Dahlen, the club’s faculty adviser, say they used to gaze out at the rolling hills through the window of Dahlen’s classroom and imagine the possibilities for the county park neighboring the school.
